A first taste of Buenos Aires

So now the journy really began!

I flew out of JFK airport Tuesday night.  It was such a weird feeling.... I've been planning this trip (at least mentally) for a quite a while now.  There was almost a giddy aspect to it - like, wow, I'm at the airport now because I'm flying out to start this 3 month trip.  I think I giggled when I left the car.  The flight itself wasn't amazing.  Firstly the entertainment system wasn't working.  They let us know before we got on the plane so that we could buy magazines it we wanted to.  The truth is that I've been suffering from what I think are allergies for almost a week now and that didn't help with getting over jetlag from coming from Israel.... so I slept.  I'm surprisingly not a great plane-sleeper even though I seem to easily fall asleep basically everywhere else.  But because I wasn't tempted to watch a TV that didn't provide a service, I at least tried to sleep the whole flight.  We were also delayed by over an hour because of the super heavy winds plaguing New York which even shut down altogether one of the takeoff runways.  The captain warned us it would be a bumpy takeoff - and it was.  I don't get scared from flying usually but we were shaking around the cabin so heavily that it was pretty unsettling.  But thank Gd I arrived safely and in one piece so that's that.

ARCHENTINA... I don't actually know if that is how they pronounce it here, but I pretend that it's like that.  Arriving, when you look out the window you see a tremendous amount of green. The airport seems to have been built on this green field with added concrete, because it is just surrounded by a lot of green.  It's also beautiful weather here right now.  Actually a bit hot for my liking (its been about 85 + but not too humid so at least its pleasant in the shade.  Getting through customs and baggage claim wasn't a problem.  Most of us from the flight seemed to wait quite a while for our bags.  I actually had the thought of what would happen if my bag didn't come?  Thank Gd I didn't have to worry about that because I did in fact get my bag.

Getting out of the airport - I consulted Lonely Planet and my friends Lauren and Lavi who traveled here a year ago as to how to get into town.  The book mentions that there are more expensive buses and shuttles that go from the airport into town, but for "penny pinchers" there is a local bus that costs only a few pesos but takes a bit longer.  L and L took the local bus so after I asked one of the bus companies how much it would be to take the private bus and received a very expensive answer, I opted for the local bus as well.  I wasn't really sure where to go so I started walking around and asked one woman who spoke English and she was very helpful.  I also knew that I needed coins and not bills for the bus so I asked her if she could make some change for me, and right off the bat she just offered me the change that she had.  I of course gave her the bill equivalent but that was my first exposure to local hospitality and friendliness.  When I got to the bus and went to hand the driver the money, he kind of just waved me on through and I didn't pay.  In retrospect it could have been that I was meant to pay behind him through a machine, but I didn't understand that at the time if that was the intention... woops.  I knew the bus was supposed to take between an hour and a half to two hours to get into town, but where was "in town"?  And where exactly did I want to go?  No clue.... At the hour and 15 minute mark I kind of found where we were on the map, also with a chuckle because in my real life would I ever do that?  Just kind of assume I'll figure it out and not really know what I was doing?  Maybe, but I'm not so sure... Anyway, even though I thought we were on the correct road, the bus suddenly turned and I wasn't sure where we were anymore and thought maybe we had passed my stop.  I "asked" someone on the bus who really didn't speak English (many people here don't) and she kind of indicated that we did in fact pass it.  So I got off the bus at the next stop.  I then stopped someone else on the street who did speak English (what luck!) and he ended up being the sweetest man!  Originally from Uruguay, he just wanted to be hospitable.  He let me know that I was quite far from where I wanted to go and walked well out of his way to get me to the subway, pointed me in the right direction and insisted on buying me the train ticket.  So basically I got all the way from the airport to my hostel for free....

I chose a hostel that I found in Lonely Planet and was right outside the subway stop.  It was nice enough and seemed to be well located so I booked myself in.  The architecture of all the buildings in the area, including this one, is old and beautiful and very charming.  It's not modern inside but well kept (much like our apartment in Jerusalem!).  And speaking of Jerusalem, Israel is very well represented here.  Especially at this hostel.  I get to the door on the third floor and the code to the building is written out in Hebrew.  On the front desk is a travel book in Hebrew.  And the guy behind the front desk, who is originally from Meitar (Hi Reubens!) is Israeli.  When I told him I was now living in Israel the rest of our conversation turned to Hebrew.  Oh yeh, and about half the people staying here in this hostel are Israeli.  So far that's not my favorite part about this, but I'm happy to have access to that contingency should I choose to be a part of it.  It did give me some "protectsia" - Tal, from the front desk called another Israeli guy to come to the hostel to switch dollars for me into Argentinian pesos.  The official exchange rate is about 8 Pesos to the US dollar, but the black market rate that he gave me was 12.6 Pesos to the dollar.

I haven't done much since I got here as my first day was spent getting my bearings, walking around the area, buying Shampoo and conditioner and a huge Jug of water since you can't drink the tap water here, and finding the local main Chabad House, which is about a 5 minute walk away.  There are fresh fruits and vegetables in many street shops so that's good.  The Chabad house also has a kosher restaurant (Argentina is known for its kosher meat aparently) for buying real food.  I also signed up for both Shabbat meals there.  Today I walked around for many hours and I think I got sunburned - its still settling in.  Stupidly I didn't practice sun safety so tomorrow morning will bring a purchase of sunscreen.  Florida Street is a very long pedestrian street geared towards tourists and locals alike.  Lots of clothing stores, both upscale and not, and electronics and the like.  I went to the outdoor Cementerio de Recoleta which is a cemetery of important people in Aregentina's past - basically a nice large outdoor area with some statues and greenery.  I also visited the Museo de Bellas Artes which hosts a nice collection of famous fine art.  And a lot more walking around and just taking in the city.

Some things I've noted: People are really friendly, but don't really speak English.  Even when you tell them that you speak English and not Spanish, they often keep speaking in Spanish as if you understand... and weirdly enough you start to understand some of it!  Buenos Aires, Argentian's capital, is much like any big populated city.  The streets are also in a grid which makes it really easy to get around with a map.  At each corner where there is the stop and go signal that goes along with the traffic light, they only have it on one side of the street - not on both.  So even if it is OK to cross the street, you may have to look at the other side of the street to see if it is OK.  I guess it saves the city electricity?  Everyone here - and I mean everyone and their grandmother - has tattoos!  Young people, old people, middle-aged people.  They are everywhere.  On legs, arms, backs, chests and back of necks.  I can only imagine what I'm not seeing from body parts not exposed.  I obviously think it's a cool part of the culture.  

So my impression is that Buenos Aires is nice, and has the feel of a city.  I'm looking forward to shabbat at Chabad and then moving on to taste something different.  I haven't specifically found anyone to travel around with - just a few pleasant converstaions here and there.  But I'm hoping and assuming that will change soon.  In the meantime I'm trying to feel better, be well rested and enjoy my new reality :)